SERUM IODINE FRACTIONS IN SUBJECTS RECEIVING POTASSIUM IODIDE IN SMALL DOSAGE*

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Abstract
PREVIOUS studies from this laboratory have shown that the ingestion of an inorganic iodide in amounts as large as 3 to 7 grams per day produced a marked elevation of the total as well as the serum precipitable or protein-bound iodine (1, 2). Fractionation of the latter moiety indicated that the rise had occurred in the nonthyroxine iodine (3). Without iodide supplements, however, these various iodine fractions are known to remain relatively constant in healthy adults (4, 5). The experiments herein reported define the effects of an inorganic iodide on serum iodine fractions when administered in therapeutic amounts such as those used, for example, in hyperthyroidism. Materials and Methods Five adult male subjects received 0.2 and subsequently 0.4 gram of potassium iodide daily as a saturated aqueous solution during periods totalling approximately four to seven weeks in length. Five others were given 0.6 gram daily in the form of compressed tablets for variable periods of time. All of the subjects continued their usual hospital, laboratory, or school activities in the spring and early summer months without alteration in their ordinary food habits.